1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a solar radiation collection device. More particularly, this invention provides a device and a process for manufacturing the device which collects solar radiation, converts the solar radiation to thermal energy, and stores the thermal energy in a single, relatively lightweight component.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional solar radiation collectors typically collect solar radiation and convert that radiation to thermal energy. The thermal energy is then transferred via a primary absorbing medium to a thermal energy storage device. From the thermal energy storage device, the thermal energy is transferred as needed to the household via a secondary heat absorbing medium. Conventional thermal energy storage devices typically store the heat by the heating of materials, such as water or rocks, in order to utilize the sensible heat of same, or by the melting of a phase change material in order to make use of the latent heat of fusion of the phase change material.
A phase change material defines any solid material which melts endothermally to produce a liquid, and reversibly and exothermally recrystallizes in order to release the previously absorbed thermal energy. The phase change materials presently available, however, do not meet the criteria of reversibility in absorption and release of thermal energy. One means of achieving some reversibility has been to encapsulate small quantities of a phase change material. The process of micro-encapsulation, however, is very expensive.